TV Unit's Strength Boosts Disney's Q1 Revenue

Disney made it a trifecta, reporting better-than-expected quarterly financial results after News Corp. and Time Warner did similarly in recent days.

While cost-cutting at the film studio and good domestic home entertainment numbers helped, Disney owes its success mostly to television, a unit that CEO Bob Iger would like to wring more cash out of by way of ABC retransmission fees.

“It clearly would not be our preference to see that our signal was taken down and we’ll do whatever we possibly can through negotiation to avoid that,” he told analysts during a conference call Tuesday.

Jay Rasulo, on the call in his new role as CFO, singled out Criminal Minds as an overperformer for ABC, while Iger boasted of the Wednesday programming block of The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town.

Rasulo

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